This invention relates to an apparatus and method for herding livestock, and more particularly to a mobile livestock cart and the method of using the cart in relation to conventional livestock pens. While this invention is particularly adaptable for hog confinement buildings and the like, the terms "hogs" or "swine" as used herein are not limiting terms and are to be considered generic to other species of livestock or poultry.
Presently, when herding livestock, individuals will manually guide animals through an alleyway using a combination of panels, electric prods, and guide sticks. Some individuals even use dogs to assist in this activity.
Inherent with this process are a number of problems. First, because of the size of the alleyway, only a limited number of animals will fit into the alleyway. Therefore, after an individual guides the first group of animals from the alleyway and into the chute, to get behind the next group of animals, the individual must either exit the chute, which in many cases involves climbing over a series of gates several feet apart, or navigate back through the next group of animals in the chute one at a time. Neither method is desirable as exiting the chute is time consuming and navigating back through the chute can be dangerous resulting in bruises, scrapes or worse injuries. As a result, a need exists for a device and method that allows an individual to herd an initial group of animals through an alleyway and then move behind a subsequent group without exiting the alleyway or navigating back through a group of animals one at a time.
Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a mobile cart that assists in herding livestock.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a safe and fast way of herding, loading and unloading livestock.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile livestock cart that can be operated with a minimum of difficulty in a livestock confinement building.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a mobile livestock cart that is durable and economical to manufacture.
These and other objects will become apparent from the following description of the invention.